Failing Lights, Brightening Darkness
by Chibi Hikari No Yume
Summary: Basically a collection of short stories about the hikari's lives going wrong. I changed my name, It used to be Millenium Gundam.
1. Pain Is Not A Weakness

NOTE!: To people who were reading this before:: My chapters got all mixed up so I'm trying to get them back in order. Please bear with me, okay? I don't own Yugioh! but the nice man on E-bay wants to sell it to me for 50 cents. Should I?  
  
~ Failing Lights, Brightening Darkness ~  
  
~ Chapter 1-Pain is not a weakness. ~  
  
Ryou felt his face get pounded into a wall. 'The one time' he thought 'The one time I'm alone, a bully  
  
shows up. Ra must love me!' "Had enough, baby?" the thug said. In Ryous haze of pain, he couldn't reply.  
  
'I must have hit my head hard', he thought, before losing consciousness. When the bully realized Ryou had  
  
stopped screaming, he dragged the limp boy to the side of the road to die. Many hours later, a jogger found  
  
him and called an ambulance. "Yes... I found a boy in critical condition on the side of the road... We're  
  
outside of Citgo on Main St... Thank you." The man closed his cell phone and covered Ryou up with his  
  
windbreaker. The pale boy had a steady heart rate and was still breathing, he was just unconscious. Soon  
  
the ambulance arrived and the semi-albino was loaded in to the back and the jogger's name and address  
  
was jotted down for reference. As the ambulance rushed away, a single tear slid down Ryou's cheek. One  
  
of the women in the ambulance happened to be his neighbor and she recognized him immediately. "Poor  
  
kid", she said, "His brother(Bakura)and dad are going to be so sad if the youngling is to badly hurt."  
  
"What?", said the other EMP, "you know him? What's his name? His family is probably freaking out!"  
  
"His name is Ryou Bakura", she said solemnly. As they reached the hospital, Ryou moaned as his arm was  
  
jolted. A few hours later, Ryou's dad and Bakura arrived at the hospital and were informed that Ryou's arm  
  
was broken in three places, his nose was broken, and two ribs were fractured. He was awake, so they went  
  
to see him. "I'm sorry, Bakura," Ryou said weakly. "Sorry for what, aibou?" "That I was so weak that I got  
  
hurt so badly." "Pain is not a weakness, hikari..."  
  
~~ To be continued ~~ I'll update when Youko Yamato, my beta reader types it up. Many thousands thankyous to Youko Yamato. (It never would get typed up without her/him/it!) 


	2. It Tells You Where You Are Weak

Disclaimer: If you read my other chapter, do you think I own it? The e-bay man won't give it to me.  
  
~ Failing light, Brightening Darkness ~ ~ Chapter 2- It tells you where you are weak ~  
  
Malik curled up in a fetal position and whimpered. This was the third time Marik had come home drunk  
  
and beaten him up. This time, the pain was too much and he passed out. 'Ra help me', was his last thought  
  
as he spiraled down into darkness. Marik plopped down on his feet, as the haze of the alcohol cleared and  
  
he realized what he had done. "Oh, hikari. I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen. Please be okay."  
  
A gash on Malik's face bled profusely and his arm was at an odd angle. Marik frowned and found a splint  
  
for Malik's arm. Then he splinted it and began to work on his lights arm. After he had finished, Marik  
  
picked up Malik and carried him to his room. Then Marik slowly undressed him and put the poor boys  
  
pajamas on him. Then he tucked Malik in bed and left the room. After Marik had gone to bed, Malik awoke  
  
and began sobbing hysterically. "Why do I deserve this drunk abusive Yami of mine? What did I do?"  
  
Marik had awoken when he started talking and softly said, "You made me fall in love with you, that's  
  
what." Then he got up to comfort his little light. When walked into Malik's room, Malik threw the alarm  
  
clock at him. "Have you come back to kill me?" he taunted. Marik avoided the other objects aimed at his  
  
head and put his arm around the sobbing mortal. "Malik," Marik began, "Can I tell you why I did that?"  
  
"Sure. I'd love to hear it!" "I love you", Marik whispered. "What?" "I love you!" "That's what I thought I  
  
heard." "Ai-"Malik started, "It tells you where you are weak, Marik..."  
  
~ To be continued ~  
  
Wow let me tell you It looks a lot longer on paper! 


	3. Your Life Is All You Have

Disclaimer: Look at Chappie 1  
  
~ Failing Light, Brightening Darkness ~ ~ Chapter 3-Your life is all you have ~  
  
Yugi watched the red liquid of his body drip and hit the floor. He stared at it hitting the floor and swirling  
  
with the water from his shower. Soon h weakened and he fell to the floor and the reddish water mingled in  
  
his hair, giving it an odd reddish colored bang. Yami sensed something wrong and tried to get in. Finding  
  
the door locked, he set about knocking it down. It splintered and fell to the floor. As soon as Yami set eyes  
  
on Yugi's dying form, he immediately tried to staunch the life-giving liquid escaping his hikari's arm. It  
  
worked and it seemed that Yugi hadn't lost too much of it, because he began to blink and struggle against  
  
Yami's strong hold. "Who did this to you?" Yami questioned. Yugi started to laugh a haunted laugh, filled  
  
with utter despair. "Who? You ask? Well, I'll tell you! Me! I did this to me!" "But-""Yes! I'm supposed to  
  
be the innocent one! The way-too-happy-for-his-own-good one! Well let me tell you, I'm not!" "Yugi- this  
  
isn't you! It can't be! Please stay with me!" Yami said, tears rolling down his face, "Please." At that they  
  
both began to cry. Yugi hugged Yami and said, "I'm so sorry. I love you. It's just you and Anzu look so  
  
happy together. You didn't need me." "Yugi, when did you get the idea I liked Anzu? I don't like her, she's  
  
just there," Yami pointed out, "I love you too, aibou. "They embraced and Yugi winced in pain as his arm  
  
was touched. Yami immediately pulled away and found a bandage for his wound. The wound was bleeding  
  
sluggishly and Yami took the chance to look at Yugis arm. It was laced with scars of past suicide attempts.  
  
On impulse, Yami pulled off Yugi's shirt and gasped. "You shouldn't have pulled that." "y our life is all  
  
you have aibou..."  
  
~ To be continued ~ 


	4. So Don't Waste Your Time

Youko Yamato is a gloopy glob of weird stuff. Failing Lights, Brightening Chapter 4-So don't waste your time   
  
Malik slammed his locker shut and trotted outside of the torture chamber known as school. Marik was  
  
supposed to pick him up, but the red pick-up truck was nowhere in sight. (The license plate was WNGD D  
  
RA) So he shrugged and started to walk home. The thoughts in his mind where as angsty as this story.  
  
'What if Marik lied? What if he's at a bar, again?" he thought dejectedly. He looked bleakly at his  
  
surroundings then started walking again. Finally, he reached his house and unlocked the door. Almost  
  
immediately, Marik's cries for help where heard by Malik and he ran to help his mischievous dark. When  
  
he reached the kitchen, he looked around, confused, before realizing they where coming from the  
  
refrigerator. He flung open the door and started laughing as a Marik- popsicle fell out of the fridge. "How in  
  
the name of Ra did you get stuck in there?" he asked. It appeared that dead people don't get frostbite  
  
because Marik looked perfectly fine. "I fell asleep getting something (what kind of person falls asleep in  
  
front of a fridge!?). The door closed and voila, I was stuck!" he said indignantly. At that, Malik started  
  
laughing hysterically and went to check their answering machine. There was a call from Isizhu and Odion,  
  
making sure the house was still intact, and a call from the Pharaoh's light asking them to come to a party,  
  
and another seven from the Rare Hunters saying they quit. (They had been disbanded seven months before,  
  
so they where a little late.) "Oh cripes! We're supposed to meet Isizhu in ten minutes!" Marik yelled, "Get  
  
dressed! We gotta go, so don't waste your time, koi!..."  
  
To be continued 


	5. Time Stops For No One

Failing Lights, Brightening Darkness Chapter 5-Time stops for no one   
  
Ryou put down the phone and collapsed against the wall, sobbing. Bakura came flying down the stairs like  
  
the overprotective hen he had been since Ryou had gotten out of the hospital and Ryou's dad had gone on a  
  
archeology dig in volcano basin. "What's wrong, hikari? Are you hurt?" "No yami. My dad's-My dad's  
  
dead!" Ryou hollered and began to cry harder. "Oh my poor little light. How?" Bakura wispered hoarsely.  
  
"You remember the dig was in a volcano basin?" Ryou started and Bakura nodded mutely. "One of the  
  
drills hit a lava pocket and the volcano erupted." "God's of my Fathers'!"(don't ask) Bakura gasped. He  
  
embraced his smaller light and shushed him softly as Ryou bawled into his shirt. When Ryou finally  
  
calmed down, he hiccuped softly and said, "They can't even find his ashes. It's going to be an empty  
  
grave." Bakura brushed Ryou's hair as he remembered when his father died.  
  
Flashback   
  
It had been a hot Egyptian day, and his mother had gone looking for the cure for his father's disease. If they  
  
had one more minute-. No. "Daddy-mommy's coming with the cure. Just hang on. Please," a young  
  
Khalid(Bakura) sobbed. "I-I c-can't k-k-halid-ch-chan", his father stuttered. Khalid's father was the image  
  
of frail. His white hair hung limply and looked even whiter than his son's. His skin hung off his body like  
  
in was three sizes too big because he hadn't eaten in days. He was trembling violently. Then he closed his  
  
eyes and murmured something. Not even a minute later, Bakura's mother came riding up with the cure.  
  
"Mommy, daddy's gone to sleep for a long time, right?" "Yes Khalid, he's gone to sleep," his mom said  
  
mournfully.  
  
End Flashback   
  
Bakura shook his head, clearing the memories from his mind, even as his father's last words rung in the air.  
  
"Time stops for no one, Khalid..." 


	6. Not the Dead, Not the Ghosts

Chapter 6 Not The Dead, Not the Ghosts AN: I changed my name, and I was on vacation for a month with no internet access, or this would have been up a lot sooner. And, Youkie, I changed this a ton so I had to retype it.  
  
Yami shoved Bakura off the bed, finally getting revenge for something. He glared at the Pharaoh and Marik when he guffawed loudly.  
"You know, this hasn't been a very good week," the Tombrobber sighed, "Ryou got beat up and his dad was caught in a volcanic eruption."  
Yami winced and added, "I found out the hard way that Yugi's tried to commit suicide umm.. twenty six times."  
"Oh. That's sad. I had another of my-er- fits, y'know. We worked it out, though," the Tombkeeper replied.  
"Has anything good happened?" Bakura asked slowly.  
"We made amends with our hikari!" Marik and Yami said instantaneously. Bakura blinked and said, "It's something, I guess."  
"Yep."  
"Please stop talking at the same time," he said agitatedly.  
"I've been thinking-" Yami started.  
"Really?" Marik interrupted. "-What would happen if the hikaris were to become 'darker' that us? Would the positions shift? Or stay the same and just be oxymorons? Am I ranting?" he finished.  
"I'm not sure," Bakura said.  
"Neither am I," Marik added.  
"I asked so obviously I don't know," Yami said, "If we could find Shaadi, we could ask him, I guess. But he's never there when you need him and you can't question him when he is."  
"But would he have answers for us?" Bakura quiered.  
"A long time ago, we would never be caught dead in each other's company. I guess that's what happens when you die," Marik said, "Well now that we are dead, no one can kill us, _not the dead, not the ghosts."_


	7. The Darkest Night

Failing Lights, Brightening Darkness Chapter 7, The darkest night This one's shorter that the rest because I discovered the song I "made up" was a mixture of two songs I hadn't heard in a long time.  
  
Ryou plopped down on Malik's bed and sighed. "Since my dad's- you know, we're all alone aren't we? Isizhu bought you this house, you live in your flat, and my great-aunt won't take me because I'm 'possessed.'"

"You know," Marik started thoughtfully, "We have three bedrooms here. You could live here. Then bills would be cheap."

"That'd be fun!" Yugi said cheerfully-well more cheerful than usual,"Oh-yeah", the little light said, "Yami found out about my 'games'." Ryou and Malik winced, knowing full well what Yugi was talking about. They all fell silent, their thoughts all going back to when they where happy.  
Malik's were to the dampest of caves, before ceremonies.  
Ryou's fell to the time when he went on a dig in Egypt with his father.  
Yugi went to the times his mother crooned him a lullaby. But because of their current mood their thought quickly turned ugly. Suicide attempts, random thugs, and fathers engraving crud on your back (!)speedily flooded the depths of their minds. Malik sighed and remembered that time during Battle City when he killed a guy with the knife hidden in the Millennium Rod. (That happened right? Or am I just delusional?) Suddenly, Ryou desided to be a poet and ramble off a random verse.  
_"Our life's night  
Is our soul's darkest hour,  
So in our plight,  
Is our darkest night."_

To be continued


	8. Have faith in What You Can

MG: This chapter is Angst/Humor! How did that happen? Some of my chapters are really messed up. Sorry. Little note Burkyno and Anzoria are OC characters in a story I'm working on about ancient Egypt.

Failing Lights, Brightening Darkness Chapter 8-Have Faith in What You Can

Yami punched in 30 seconds on the microwave and pressed start. In stead of turning on, it blew up in his face and left chard food bits in his hair and shirt. Yugi came running down the stairs and, even burnt, Yami could see the now scars forming on his arms. This hurt Yami, even more than the crazed microwave trying to kill him (ha ha). Luckily, there was no fire and the only thing bad was that they had to order pizza for supper. As they waited for the pizza, Yami's thoughts drifted back to when he was known as Atemu, and he, Khalid, and Mariku roamed freely.

Flash back

"Atemu, Anzoria wants to meet us in Alexandria," Khalid yelled excitedly, "And she's bringing Burkyno!" Burkyno was Khalid's partner in crime and was placed in Anzoria's care because of one too many times getting caught(I know I'm twisting the past but hey it's a fanfic). Mariku started running and the trio ended up racing to the square. Khalid won but Atemu was close behind. Anzoria waited with Burkyno, taping her foot

"You kids," she laughed, using the slang for children easily, "Must you race everywhere?" Mariku and Atemu nodded quickly and Khalid told Burkyno everything she had missed. "So you too. How's life been?" Anzoria queried. "Father's still pestering me about a wife," Atemu said heavily, "he wants me to marry eldest sister, but mother wants me to wed cousin Cleopatra." Anzoria winced and sighed, "Remember, Atemu, true love is far and random, _but have faith in what you can_, Pharaoh..."

To be continued


	9. Know What You See Isn't All There Is

Sorry it took so long, I lost my notebook!  
  
Know That What You See Is Not All There Is  
Malik wistfully caressed a picture of his now-dead sister. Apparently, she had shot herself in the temple and died. She had left a note, written in blood not her own, as a clarification of why. She had foreseen her death, and not willing to face death by a brain tumor, had taken her own life. (I'm not sure where that came from. TT) Odion was really depressed, but had sworn long ago that he wouldn't take his life.  
Marik had disappeared after hearing the message, and even Malik couldn't find him. At the same time Malik was thinking of him, Marik was sitting in a tree, remembering when his brother had died. They had been poor, so Some had been buried in the desert sands.  
Flashback  
"Mariku, when I die," His brother, Some, had said, "Never forget, okay?" Mariku had only nodded dimly, only knowing Some was dying from a dagger by the hand of their own father. Endi, the man called their father, had hit his son with a knife just above his knee in a drunken stupor. Then he disappeared, leaving Mariku to tend to a very sick and delirious brother. A week later, Some had died.  
The next day, Mariku had found his friends as usual, with Atemu's guards armed to the teeth. When he had cried, Atemu, Anzoria, Burkyno, and Khalid had tried to cheer him up, but it had scarcely helped. And when Mariku had complained of someone watching him, Anzoria had merely smiled and asked, "Do you believe in ghosts?"  
Mariku had thought a while, then shook his head. Anzoria had only laughed and said, "Silly boy, you don't realize what faith is! _Know what you see isn't all there is, youth..."  
_  
Ummm.... I was rereading this and realized how sad this was. I better finish this story before I go back and change it... 


	10. My Other Self, I Protect You

Sorry for taking so long, it's Youkie's fault! Honestly! Failing Lights, Brightening Darkness Chapter 10- My other self, I protect you   
  
Yugi sighed and sat in Solemen's favorite chair. His Otou-sama had died in a car crash last night. Solemen had been driving home from the grocery store and a drunk driver had hit him. He had been taken to ER, but he had already died and no one could save him. Yugi and Yami had figured he was just taking his time until they had been notified. Then they had to go down to the hospital and identify the body and fill out some forms (I don't know if they really do that). The hospital was to keep the corpse for 24 hours before it was cremated. Then they could pick up the ashes and do what ever with them. They both decided that they were going to do what their Otou- sama had wanted and scatter the ashes to the wind. Yugi relaxed further and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. His yami came down the stairs and smiled. Yami was still affected by Solemen's death, but not quite as much as Yugi since his parents and grandparents had all died. He picked his little light up and took him gently upstairs to his bedroom. Then Yami carefully tucked Yugi into his bed and kissed him gently on the forehead. He sat quietly on Yugi's bed and brushed his hair away from the younger one's face. Unknown to Yami, Yugi smiled slightly as Yami caressed his hair. Then Yami got up and slowly walked out of Yugi's room. As he silently closed the door, he whispered, "Good night, _My other self, I protect you,_ light..." 


End file.
